The Obamacare Chronicles: in which UPS proves me right

“Train wreck”

The timing couldn’t be better. Yesterday I quoted an article from the Pittsburgh Tribune’s TribLive site reporting that, due to Obamacare, some companies were looking to save money by dropping spousal coverage.

UPS to drop 15,000 spouses from insurance, cites Obamacare

United Parcel Service Inc. plans to remove thousands of spouses from its medical plan because they are eligible for coverage elsewhere. The Atlanta-based logistics company points to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as a big reason for the decision, reports Kaiser Health News.

The decision comes as many analysts are downplaying the Affordable Care Act’s effect on companies such as UPS, noting that the move reflects a long-term trend of shrinking corporate medical benefits, Kaiser Health News reports. But UPS repeatedly cites Obamacare to explain the decision, adding fuel to the debate over whether it erodes traditional employer coverage, Kaiser says.

Rising medical costs, “combined with the costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost,” UPS said in a memo to employees.

This is one reason I’ve come to oppose the “Defund Obamacare” tactic pushed by Heritage and Senators Cruz, Lee, Paul, and Rubio (2), even though I’m unalterably against Obamacare: this thing is falling apart on its own, both through missed deadlines and because of the pain and dislocation it’s starting to cause Americans, such as those 15,000 UPS workers.

But recognizing that it’s collapsing of its own poor design does not meant that we can sit back and relax, because, per the far Left’s plan, the problems of Obamacare will be used to pave the way for truly nationalized single-payer health care. Don’t take my word for it — ask Harry Reid. If we let them, this is exactly what they’ll do. It’s up to us to point out at every opportunity (such as when the UPS guy happens to mention losing his wife’s coverage) that all this is a result of not a few problems in Obamacare that need fixing, but of the law itself. The whole thing.

The basic concept, not just its execution.

If we do the political work to beat the Left’s propaganda and show how Obamacare harms the average American, we can still repeal this thing in 2017, or so reform it that it will be like repeal.

Footnote:
(1) In this case, mostly shareholding mutual fund companies, which certainly include a a large number of pensioners. You don’t want retired people hurt, do you?
(2) “Oppose” means just that: I disagree with their strategy, while still liking, admiring, and generally agreeing with them. It’s the Left that likes to anathematize people for varying from accepted group-think. I just think they’ve misread the tactical situation badly and instead risk leaving Obamacare in place by failing.